On Goals - or 1,000 miles in 2010

When Owen and I got our road bikes in late March we made a commitment to ride our bikes a lot. We talked about milage goals for the season and Owen threw out 1,000 miles as his goal.

“1,000 miles?” I asked him. “In one season?” That sounded like way too many miles to me. I decided on 500 miles as my goal, almost too hard to accomplish, I thought, but still reasonable and reachable

But Owen’s goal of 1,000 miles stayed in my mind.

And it’s still there.

You see, I have been thinking about goals a lot since I started riding.

This is the deal...goals and I haven’t had a good relationship. I’ve tended to look at setting goals as a way to guarantee failure. As something rigid and too out of reach.  And when I didn't meet a goal I thought about the people who said “you can’t,” and “it’s too hard for you,” and stuff like that. Because that’s what people have told me in the past.

And since I often didn't meet my goals I figured what other people said was true.

So, no surprise, I’ve been hesitant to set goals, or at least goals that anyone knows about, because I've been afraid I'd fail.

I’ve been talking to Owen a lot about goals in the last few weeks. About how people perceive me to be very goal oriented even though I don’t see myself this way. About how I actually do get out and accomplish things, even things that people tell me I can’t do - like learn how to fly airplanes.  We’ve also talked a lot about how Owen sees goals as a positive thing. About how they can be evaluated as you go and modified if need be. And, this really resonated with me, how he sees working toward a goal as more important than the goal itself. That setting goals encourages you to get out and do something you might not have done otherwise. And that getting out and doing is an accomplishment in itself. And that working towards a goal, even a goal you don’t reach, can make you a better person.

I’d never thought of goals that way before. 

I  like Owen’s point of view.
It’s a much more positive approach than the goals = failure view I’ve had.

So - back to my 500 mile bicycling goal/personal challenge....

I made it!! As of November 11th, I put 630 miles on my road bike and 220 miles on my hybrid for a total of 850 miles of riding this year. I doubt I would have done this without 30 Days of Biking through which I had to “tweet” my rides every day and be accountable to everyone else taking part in the challenge. And through tweeting about my 30 Days of Biking I gained a support system of positive people - bicyclist, runners, triathletes - people I now think of as friends.

I feel good about riding well over my 500 mile goal. Okay, I feel great about it!  But you know what? That 1,000 mile number is still out there and it’s taunting me.

So I’m going to work towards it!

My goal is to continue biking, walking or running and work towards 1,000 miles of exercise in 2010. 

I have logged 860 miles of exercise (850 miles of biking, 10 of walking & running) since late March and I’m going to keep going. 

You know what? I may not make 1,000 miles by the end of 2010 but that’s okay because I’m going to think of the goal as something flexible, as something that’s working for me not against me. And I'm going to tell myself that each mile I track, even if I don't finish all 140, is moving me towards a better, more fit, more positive, Myrna.

So here I go...